


The Perks of being Jason Todd

by AllumetteRouge (RedRaidingHood)



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: M/M, past Tim/Kon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 11:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9721673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedRaidingHood/pseuds/AllumetteRouge
Summary: It's way too easy to convince Jason to pick Dick's drunk brother up from a party. Which may or may not have to do with his stupid crush.





	

Jason dreaded what Dick would say the moment he picked up the phone. So he stared at the device before reclining back in his chair and finally giving in.

“What?”

“I got good news and bad news.”

“Don’t you always?” He twirled his pencil in the hand not holding the phone. His thesis was due in two months and he really had wanted to work on it today – but Dick Grayson was a man on a mission and Jason knew not to stand in his way. Mostly because it ended up advantageous for him, too.

“The dean agreed to listen to your proposal about female hygiene products in the bathrooms.”  


“Fuck yes. Just give them some pads, at least, dammit, it’s not that hard.”

Dick chuckled mirthlessly. “He’s going to listen, Jay, no one said anything about him agreeing with you. You remember the last time you asked him to give out free stuff to the student body?”

“Pretty sure HE won’t forget it either. - So what’s the deal? When can I talk to him? In fact, I got some time right now.” Jason turned the page on his notepad.

“Not before next Friday?”

“Next Friday, huh.” He jotted down the date and underlined it twice. Jason liked to be prepared for this kind of stuff and he would make sure to let Donna do most of the talking this time. Nobody could refuse her; she was a goddess and she knew it.

“Jay,” Dick said, his voice low enough to be little more than a hiss through the phone. “About the bad news.”

Of course. There was always a catch. “What is it? Does he want a public apology?”

“Actually, it’s a favor.”

“Geeze, what does he want?” Slapping his hand on the desk, he stood, starting to pace through his room.

“It’s for me actually.” Jason stopped dead in his tracks. Dick Grayson, the golden boy himself, needed a favor from the one student who just couldn’t keep his mouth shut and study nicely like all the other students on campus? “Can you pick up my little brother?”

It was no secret Dick Grayson had been adopted. It was no secret he hadn’t been the only kid that had been adopted by the same, wealthy family. It was a secret, though, who that wealthy family was, as all of them went by their original last names. So when Dick told him about his little brother, Jason was surprised to know the kid. Tim Drake was a freshman in his literature class and he was pretty sure they had argued about every text they had discussed in class. And by ‘pretty sure’ Jason meant ‘he knew exactly how bad it was that those were the pictures his subconsciousness conjured up almost every time he jerked off’.

The worst part was that they weren’t even friends. They didn’t know each other outside of class and as much as Jason wanted to kiss that pretty brain behind that pretty face, that was about it.

With growing annoyance, Jason still found himself pushing his way through the party Tim had called his brother from. Parties were boring. People dancing and screaming at each other was not Jason’s idea of a good evening. His mood only perked up when he saw a familiar figure leaning on one of the couches in the living room.

“Cassie,” he called out to Donna’s cousin. The girl actually heard him over the noise and Jason thanked God for that small miracle.

The blonde blinked at him for a moment longer than needed, which might have more to do with the red cup in her hand than his charming good looks. “You’re...”

“Jason,” he prompted, only to add, “the guy Donna brought over to cook dinner around Christmas?”

“Oh, right! Jackson!”

“Jason. Listen, I’m looking for Tim Drake? Tiny guy, usually wearing some kind of flannel and jeans?”

Cassie started at him, the corner of her mouth turning down slightly. “I know Tim.”

“Great.” Jason shoved his hands in his pockets, shifting a little on his feet. He cringed when one of his shoes kept sticking to the floor. “I’m here to pick him up.”

Chucking back her drink, Cassie waved her hand over the couch she was leaning on. When Jason didn’t move, she pushed her cup in his hands and bent down over the couch.

“Your ride’s here.”

Carefully not to tread into anything else, Jason rounded the couch to watch Cassie lean over the kid he’s been looking for. Just like her, Tim seemed to be inebriated, but unlike Cassie, he was flushing and crying and trying to pull the girl over the backrest.

“Geeze.” Jason ran a hand through his hair. “You’re a mess, kid.”

It took them a while to get Tim in his car, but together, Cassie and Jason made it. The drive wasn’t too long, but it would take them enough time to listen to the radio if they weren’t talking. And Tim hadn’t seemed to be in any condition to talk. For a while, Jason was sure the kid had fallen asleep, but he turned the radio down and his heart sank when he heard the sobs coming from the backseat.

“You okay back there?”

The noise stopped impressively fast, but Tim couldn’t quite get the tears out of his voice. “What do you care?”

With a sigh, Jason set the turn signal. “Come on. I’m getting you home. Least you can do is tell me what the fuck happened that made Dick promise to play in the next play.”

Tim sat up, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked like a petulant child but Jason still felt relief wash over him. He’d stopped crying. That was the Tim he knew, the one who didn’t take Jason’s bullshit. “He so did not.”

“You got me,” Jason chuckled. “It’d be great, though. Imagine him as Peter Pan. We could actually hang him on some ropes and make him fly - wouldn’t be half as dangerous as having Rose do it again.”

“Rose was a great Peter.”

That, Jason had to give her. He’d gotten into trouble for the gender thing, of course, but no one actually cared other than the dean.

Tim put a hand on the seat, almost touching Jason’s shoulder. He was leaning his head on the cushion, glancing at Jason from the corner of his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“You probably got better things to do than picking up some asshole on a Saturday night.”

Keeping his eyes on the road, Jason felt his heart beat against his ribs. This close, he could smell Tim. Could smell the alcohol and the party on his skin. The last time they had been this close, Tim had almost jumped over his table to get in Jason’s face about Lady Macbeth. The kid had looked vicious then, vicious and more alive than ever. There was no chance in hell Jason would ever forget the fire in his eyes or the sneer on his lips, but neither seemed likely on the young boy in the back of his car.

Tim leaned his head on the passenger seat, studying Jason with eyes, still red from crying. After a moment or two that felt way too long, he sighed; a tiny, wet sound that made Jason’s heart clench painfully. “Just... sorry for being a bother, I guess. It’s my fault and I should be able to find my own way home...”

“Yeah, okay.” On the spur of the moment, Jason hit the breaks to merge into another line. “That’s bullshit. We’re not doing that.”

“Wait, what?” Tim blinked, pushing of the seat to look around. “This is not the way home.”

“It’s called a detour.” Jason gritted his teeth. His hands started to shake on the wheel but he refused to look at Tim. Whatever he thought about Jason’s impulse, he would have to verbalize it because Jason couldn’t deal with hurting the kid even more. Not when his intentions were actually quite the opposite.

“Look, birdbrain,” he said, still keeping his eyes on the road. “I’m not letting you home like this. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to explain to your dad what happened if you can’t even tell Dick, so no. We’re gonna sober you up first and then we’ll think about getting your glass slipper back so the prince won’t find you and tell your dad about that party.”

“Shit.” Tim sat back. “My paper’s due on Friday.” Jason blinked, looking back at the boy and giving him a confused grunt that made Tim laugh. “Conner still has my laptop.”

“Then go get it some time this week.”

Tim laughed again. A broken, hysteric laugh that made Jason actually turn his head. “He doesn’t want me back. He’s broken up with me and doesn’t want to see me again and I can’t get my laptop anymore. It’s gone. Whoosh.” Tim’s hands move, imitating a small explosion, but his face still bore the false cheer.

Jason bit his lip, trying to focus on the road ahead. So that’s what all this was about. This was the reason Tim got drunk at that party and called Dick, acting so out of character his brother made sure the kid got home safely. Cursing his luck, Jason could only hope Dick would come home sooner than intended. Knowing the family, Tim didn’t have much fun with his little brother and their father without Dick around, even if there was no break-up hanging over his head like a dark cloud.

Tim and Conner had been … No matter how much Jason had wanted to get to know Tim better, their relationship had always been a great excuse not to try anything. To not try getting Tim’s attention, because knowing he’d be rejected felt way better when the reason wasn’t Tim not being interested but the plausible deniability that already being taken gave him.

So Tim and Conner were no more. Great. Dick had called them ‘soulmates’ once and Jason had wanted to vomit. Whatever the case, the kid must be hurting like hell right now and all Jason saw was the way his face twisted into that grimace, that smile that was even more fake than Claudius’s declarations to Hamlet’s mother.

“Stay put,” Jason ordered when he pulled into the rest stop. Working at the restaurant there had its perks – one of them being getting good, greasy food in the middle of a Saturday night without questions asked. Still warm, too. Jason stalked across the parking lot with a doggy bag in hand not long after, opening the back door of his car with a flourish. “Now you get out. Fresh air and greasy food, just what the doctor ordered.”

Tim sneered, his nose crinkling harshly. But he did as he was told. His tears had stopped, but standing next to Jason, he seemed even smaller than usually. His shoulders slumped and his feet dragging behind him as they made their way to one of the benches where families would pack out their lunch when they didn’t come into the restaurant to eat on their way to whatever vacation they had planned.

They sat with their backs to the table and Jason handed a bottle of water over. Tim drank without a word, kept taking the food from Jason silently. It felt nice, just existing like this. Moving with each other, no words needed. The kid wolfed down the burger Jason had gotten for him, and he was half-way through his fries when he finally looked up. He looked up but ducked his head between his shoulders, a blush on his cheeks that Jason blamed on the cool night air.

“Thank you.”

He shrugged. Whatever Tim was thinking about, he was still a little drunk and would have one hell of a hangover in the morning. “Don’t mention it. ‘s not like I’m doing this for free.”

Tim’s gaze fell, his hands fumbling with the bottle. “Oh.”

“Yeah, Dickie is getting old cummerbund to talk to me again,” Jason added. The kid was confusing him, one second, he seemed to feel better, to calm down, the other… he looked even more devastated than before. “Stop thinking about that asshole.”

Tim snorted, leaning his back against the table to look up at the stars. “Who says I’m thinking about Conner?”

“You’re thanking me like you owe me. You really just want to feel bad about yourself and being a bother to me gives you another reason.”

The kid chuckled, hugging the bottle close to his chest. “Stop trying to make sense, I’m still drunk.”

Jason couldn’t help himself, he leaned over, his arm falling behind Tim on the table like it belonged there. And he smiled. Genuinely. “You’re awfully eloquent for someone still being drunk.”

“I’m still able to make bad choices.” Tim grinned back, his face so close Jason could feel the warmth of his breath against his neck. His eyes drifted towards Tim’s lips seeing the words more than hearing them and wanting to feel them against his mouth more than he’d wanted anything in a long time. “Really, really bad choices,” the kid said, his head falling against Jason’s shoulder. “Like telling Conner about the other guy.”

“The other--” Jason’s lungs were on fire, each breath hurting as he felt Tim getting comfortable under his arm.

“The other guy I like.”

“Oh.” Jason forced a smile on his face. Tim was drunk and cuddling up with him _because_ he was drunk. He didn’t like Jason and he didn’t like Conner either. He liked someone else. Someone who wasn’t Jason. He was doing a bad job of hiding his pain, having Tim in his arms and still knowing he had no chance to be more to Tim than the guy from Literature 101 who grinned way too much while telling him all the ways he was wrong about this or that interpretation. More than the guy his brother talked into stopping him from getting black-out drunk at a stupid party.

“You’re a good person, Jason. You’re easy to talk to, you know? I…” Tim sighed against his shoulder. “I like you.”

Jason didn’t recognize his voice when the words came out almost automatically. He stood, dislodging the kid and ignoring the sudden cold he felt where Tim’s warmth had been only moments before. “Let’s get you home,” he said, shutting off the pain he felt at those stupid, three words. Words he had longed to hear – but not like this.

The trip was short and all the while, they hadn’t spoken another word. The radio had filled the silence, but something had changed, so when Jason killed the motor in front of Tim’s house, he didn’t expect the kid to hesitate.

“Thank you. For … everything,” Tim said, his hands gripping the seatbelt.

Jason grunted. He wanted a cigarette but he hated smoking in the car. The smell just never left the upholstery and the ash got everywhere.

“I, um, I meant it.” The kid unbuckled and chuckled absentmindedly. Tim was not looking at him and the blush on his cheeks could not be blamed on the cold. Jason’s heating was working perfectly fine.

He leaned over the stick one hand on the console, the other tentatively bracing itself on Jason’s shoulder. Tim moved slowly, giving him all the time he’d need to stop him, but Jason had never expected anything like this. Had no idea what to think of Tim’s lips pressing against his.

Jason didn’t react. He was frozen in place, yelling at himself to get a move on - this might be his only chance, Tim might not even know him anymore on Monday. Kid’s drunk and heartbroken and desperate for comfort. But Jason felt himself kiss back, his fingers sliding over Tim’s knee and his eyes falling close.

Ever since the start of the semester, he had been curious about this; had wanted to feel Tim’s tongue in his mouth, had wanted to hear the soft sounds, the tiny breaths between them, but Jason was a bad man. A bad choice and Tim was drunk and heartbroken and desperate for comfort.

When he pulled back, he was panting, and so was Tim. Their breaths came out in short, shallow puffs, mingling in the small space between them. Opening his eyes, Jason could see the spark in Tim’s. Never had he seen the kid’s cheeks so red or his lips so swollen, making a picture that would haunt him in his dreams.

“Thank you,” Tim said again, smiling. His eyes closed and the moment broke, getting Jason back to reality. He had wanted this, but it was a bad idea. So, so bad…

Tim let himself fall back into his seat, taking a deep breath before putting a hand on the door. He kept smiling, but Jason knew his eyes would still be swollen, would still be red from crying all night and his head would hurt and he’d regret this night in the morning.

Climbing out of the car, Tim moved slowly, as if reluctant to leave. He turned back, one hand still on the door. “So, um. Wanna get lunch together on Monday?”

Jason blinked, dumbfounded. “I... Yes.” Because he wanted to. He really, really wanted to. Get to know Tim better, that is. And maybe… more.

“Great,” Tim grinned, his eyes bright in the harsh light of the car. “It’s a date,” he said before jerking the door shut.

A minute passed, maybe ten or twenty, Jason didn’t know - but he did know he should turn the motor on and leave, instead of lurking in Tim’s driveway like a creep.

He smiled, finally turning the key. “It’s a date,” he said, turning up the radio real loud. There was no way he would sleep tonight; not with the way his heart was jumping in his throat just thinking about Monday.

**Author's Note:**

> I almost didn’t post this today, tbh - but I choose to trust the two lovely people who told me I wouldn’t make a fool out of me showing y’all this. Let me know what you think and say 'hi' on [tumblr](http://allumetterouge.tumblr.com)  
> Thank you [Yasmin](http:/minchen0897.tumblr.com) and [Ceara](http://ceara-banana.tumblr.com) <3  
> And a Happy Valentine’s to you!


End file.
